Thursday, September 6, 2007

Some Cool Things I saw Today

I visited two schools today, Rogers and Stark. I saw some great things, but felt compelled to note two of them. At Rogers, in the staff meeting/IB room, there are two pieces of chart paper on the wall regarding Staff Development (among many other things): "Essential Agreements for Staff Development" and "What we Expect from Each Other." What struck me was that the teachers had spent time to articulate exactly what kind of learning they want to be engaged in and what kind of learners they want to be. If you get a chance, talk to someone from Rogers about it.

I also saw some great examples of math instruction this morning. In one K class at Rogers I saw students excited about figuring out how many different ways they could express the number 4 with their fingers. In a 1st grade class at Stark I saw students learning the number line by guessing what number that their classmate was thinking of while two other students "walked the line." In another Stark class the students were creating pictographs of how they got to school - bus, car or walking. What was great about each class was the enthusiasm of the teachers.